She insisted the marriage rite will not hold. All her troubles and gymnastics did not stop the elders from taking the bride price. There wasn’t any formal ceremony but the marriage was conducted traditionally. I became the second wife of my pastor in an ironic way.

After the marriage rite, the elders held a meeting with mummy pastor for about three hours. I was later informed that she was pacified by the elders. She initially threatened that she will walk out of the marriage if Deji marries me but she was advised not to leave since she will be the one to loose especially now that she has no child for Deji. All her years of suffering and sacrifice will be wasted if she leaves. She was advised to accept me as her sister and my baby as her baby. And the presence of baby in the home may cause hers to come. She was left with no option than to accept her fate. Sincerely, I felt for her too but I was the source of her disappointment and bitterness.

She embraced me with tears in her eyes. She collected my baby and said “you shall be called Olushina”, Olushina means God has opened the way. We adopted the name and began to call him Olushina. After the marriage rite, Deji was to go before Akombo to swear an oath to forever be committed to me and my baby. I was really afraid for Deji because my late grandfather used to tell us how terrible Akombo can be. But the question still remains if Deji will accept to swear the oath.

Everything for the swearing of the oath was ready at the shrine and the chief priest had sent his servant to come and fetch Deji. I thought he was going to resist the call, rather he was speaking in tongues as he followed the chief priest’s servant. Two elders, one from my family and one from his accompanied him to the shrine. He took the oath without considering his faith. After all had been done, my fears shifted to what will happen to me as Deji’s wife. Will he leave me in Kabba or take me back to Lagos? I began to weigh the options. If he leaves me in Kabba which is the most likely, I will have to stay with his family members in the family compound house. All my dreams and aspirations will be suspended because they can’t be realized in such a locality. If he takes me to the city, how will I face the shame? What will I tell Stella if she eventually comes back? Would I still be able to return to the church?

Deji was not talking to me so I was left in the dark on my next move. On Sunday morning, mummy pastor came to inform me that we will be going to Lagos together on Monday. But my things are still in Kabba ma. Don’t worry about those things, Daddy will arrange how they will be sent to Lagos. She collected Shina and backed him. On Monday morning, we set out for Lagos while others who came from Kabba went with the bus that brought us.